The secret to successful blogging is to be involved in real life relationships that involve give-and-take emotional intimacy. If all of your social life takes place on the computer (blogs, twitter, facebook, forums, etc.), eventually you will step away and find that there is nothing left. Those kind of relationships are about connecting with others without giving yourself, and that is no key to intimacy. You can’t blog and expect to find the sort of relationships your heart desires. You have to build the relationships and have a life outside of the internet first.
It happens every time I get away from my blog for a while. I sit down and think, “What can I write that anyone would read?” It’s been so long since I’ve posted, I wonder if anybody still reads. When was the last time I posted? (goes off to look) OCTOBER 28! Practically a whole month has passed without me sitting down here. What happened?
Oh yeah, I remember–We went to a wedding. Then when we got back I got my wisdom teeth removed (4 impacted teeth, lucky me). Sunday, while I was still recovering from wisdom teeth extraction, Wiggles got sick (Roseola we think). After a few night of getting little to no sleep, I had to recover a few days before sitting back down at the computer.
Here I am. I’m not sure we are out of the chaos yet. Looking around the house, I’m actually quite sure we haven’t recovered from the chaos yet. (Do I get a “get out of house cleaning free” pass for this week?) I do think I am getting my feet back under me, and the late nights when I couldn’t sleep have given me some “thinking time” that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.
I’m thinking I need to stay up till after midnight every night.
What do concert pianists, professional football players, and writers all have in common?
If they want to be good great at their craft, they all have to practice…daily!
As we sit back with our cup of morning coffee–or tea, if you prefer–we dream of writing. As every aspiring writer knows, when the time is right (when I retire, when the kids are grown, when life slows down, when I save enough to take a month off from my job…) that we will be able to sit down and pound out a Pulitzer Prize winning book.
And if you are ever going to get that published book or article, you need to start now. Drink your tea and sit down for some daily writing practice.
How do I approach daily writing practice?
The possibilities for how to practice writing are endless. Use any or all the following methods to stretch the author within you.
- Morning Pages–three pages, single spaced, handwritten, writing down whatever comes to your mind. Don’t stop writing until you reach the end of three pages. Don’t critique. Don’t correct. Just write. (this suggestion is from The Right to Write)
- Blogging–pick a niche you are interested in and research/write articles. Your blog posts today could become a published article tomorrow
- Maintain a swipe file– whenever you read a magazine, newspaper,website, or etc. Look for attention grabbing headlines, watch for topics that interest you. Collect these articles and use them later to create your own version.
- Writing Prompts–The internet is full of writing prompt lists and generators. My favorite writing prompt list is the monthly calendar from Toasted Cheese, a website devoted to helping writers pursue their craft. Other good websites for writing prompts are: Creative Writing Prompts, Writers Digest, and Prompt Generator.
- Books–Get a book on writing or creativity and do the suggested exercises. My favorites are The Right to Write
, Writing Down the Bones, and The Artist’s Way.
Start today. Write, and write often. Don’t critique. Don’t edit. Let the creative, imaginative, vibrant author grow and flourish.
You don’t have to be published to be an author and a writer. All you have to do is write.
